Something Juicy

This little italian appliance wants to squeeze your lemons.

If you can’t tell what season it is based on the unfailing Palm Springs weather, look to the trees. Citrus season comes, goes, and comes again, fruit ripening on the branches for our plucking pleasure. A juicer that’s attractive enough to keep on the counter (so you actually use it) is a must.

This Italian beauty queen, designed collaboratively by two legacies from the motherland, is that juicer. Never mind the $600 price tag. As part of a new collection of small appliances by Dolce & Gabbana and Smeg, this powerhouse takes fresh fruit to task.

The “Sicily Is My Love” motif — also splashing its Mediterranean colors and imagery across a toaster, electric tea kettle, hand mixer, espresso machine, and blender — feels as SoCal as it does Southern Italy. A cameo of lemons adorns one side; oranges grace the other. Plump prickly pear cactus fills the rest.

On a culinary note — and perhaps we should get a little Sicilian in our own local fare — prickly pears flourish on the island. Known at Sicilian summer stands and autumn food markets as bastardoni (“big bastards”), the sweet yet seedy fruit is an acquired taste when consumed raw, often for breakfast. Perhaps that’s why it’s also used on salads and to make liquors, honey, vinaigrettes, and the traditional Christmas cake buccellato.

As for the juicer: Its decorative exterior screams D&G, while the inner workings are all Smeg. A built-in sensor revs the 80-watt motor when pressure is applied with halved fruit. A strainer separates pulp from juice, which pours into your glass through a drip-free stainless-steel spout.

This isn’t the first collab between the Italian fashion house and retro appliance designer. Last year Smeg and D&G rolled out 100 hand-painted refrigerators to launch their partnership. If $50,000 falls within the realm of your kitchen reno budget, a limited number of these 1950s-style refrigerators are available at Neiman Marcus once again beginning this month.